George wheeler



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

GEORGE W'HEELER, OF NEWT YORK, N. Y.

KEYHOLE- GUARD.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 30,368, dated October 9, 1860.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE WHEELER, of New York, in the county and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Keyhole-Guard, by which burglars are prevented from obtaining access to the keyhole for the purpose of opening the lock; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and eXact description thereof.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and use my invention I will proceed to describe its construction and operation by the aid of t-he drawings, and of the letters of reference marked thereon.

Figure l is a perspective view of a lock with my improvement attached, Fig. 2 is a side view, and Fig. 3 is a plan of the guard separate.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

A is a door, seen from the interior of the apart-ment, B is a lock thereon, and, C, the key. The guard, D, is made of brass or other suitable material, with a head, el, and shank CZ. This shank, is made of such a size that it will enter any ordinary keyhole, and of a length to correspond with an ordinary door key. In the head, d, a large headed thumbscrew, E, is fitted.

The operation is as follows: The door being locked from the inside, and the bit of the key turned parallel with the bolt of the lock, the screw E is detached and the shank,

'cZ, of the guard, D, is inserted in the keyhole, to such a distance that the head, d, corresponds with the bow of the key. E is then entered and screwed down tight, and

the guard is adjusted. The burglar cannot turn the key 1n consequence of the guard, nor can he insert any instrument for pick- -ing the lock for the same reason, and he cannot remove the guard, as it is firmly held by the key. The top of the head d is bev eled or stands at an angle to the shank, as shown in Fig. 2, which, in combination with the less thickness of the bow than of the shank of the key, causes the shank of the guard to be sprung downward when the screw E is applied, whereby it is forced to the bottom of the key-hole and clamped firmly.

In order to adapt my guard to various lengths of key I can if desired provide several holes in the bent portion d atdifferent distances from the shank d. These holes being all equally tapped the screw E may be inserted in either at pleasure thus practically lengthening or shortening the guard at will.

Having now fully described my invention what I claim as new therein and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The guard D, constructed so as to be attached to an ordinary key, and operate substantially in the manner and for the purpose herein set forth.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my name in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEO. WHEELER.

Witnesses A. SNYDER, THOMAS D. STETsoN. 

